Even if he was a decorated war veteran, the guy (Rangel) is the very definition of what is wrong with Congress.

His draft sh*t is nonsense. "If we had a draft, then the rich, white people, would not start these wars."

Yeah, no. It doesn't work like that, it's never worked like that.

We'll ignore his numerous financial scandals and such. It's just stupid to keep screaming "A draft Army will stop all the needless wars!" because that's bullsh*t. You idiots doing your goddamn job and not drafting things like the Iraq War Resolution might prevent some wars from occurring.

MaudlinMutantMollusk:I thought even the registration had been done away with for a while at some point

/but yeah, why not?

Nope, all males between the ages of 18 and 25 must be registered with the Selective Service System. Some states do it automatically when a male applies for a driver's license, some have registars in schools, you can even register at www.sss.gov, but if you do not do it by the time you're 26, you can be denied federal benefits and jobs, not to mention it is a federal offense. Some states, like Ohio, charge males out-of-state tuition rates if they are not registered with SSS.

NewportBarGuy:Even if he was a decorated war veteran, the guy (Rangel) is the very definition of what is wrong with Congress.

His draft sh*t is nonsense. "If we had a draft, then the rich, white people, would not start these wars."

Yeah, no. It doesn't work like that, it's never worked like that.

We'll ignore his numerous financial scandals and such. It's just stupid to keep screaming "A draft Army will stop all the needless wars!" because that's bullsh*t. You idiots doing your goddamn job and not drafting things like the Iraq War Resolution might prevent some wars from occurring.

Go away, Charlie. Please.

None of which has anything to do with women being required to register for the Selective Service.

MaudlinMutantMollusk: I thought even the registration had been done away with for a while at some point

/but yeah, why not?

Nope, all males between the ages of 18 and 25 must be registered with the Selective Service System. Some states do it automatically when a male applies for a driver's license, some have registars in schools, you can even register at www.sss.gov, but if you do not do it by the time you're 26, you can be denied federal benefits and jobs, not to mention it is a federal offense. Some states, like Ohio, charge males out-of-state tuition rates if they are not registered with SSS.

It was suspended between '75 and '80

/but that's from Wiki//YMMV///I was 1A with a lottery number of 123, I know how it works

GAT_00:None of which has anything to do with women being required to register for the Selective Service.

It's what he does. Just not a fan of the dude. Of course they should be made to register, but the entire system is outmoded anyway. We don't live in an era where we would have the time to muster an Army if we really needed one. We'd be nuked, fragged, and disoriented before we even knew what hit us if we really needed a draft-size Army to face a modern threat.

MaudlinMutantMollusk:Rangel's integrity issues aside, the registration requirement was suspended between 1975 and 1980, it appears

/Good to know not all the memory cells are fried yet

Yeah, forgot/never noticed that. Carter's reintroduction was retroactive, though, so it wasn't much of a break. I suppose you'd notice if you were one of the ones who didn't have to register for those five years.

GAT_00:NewportBarGuy: Even if he was a decorated war veteran, the guy (Rangel) is the very definition of what is wrong with Congress.

His draft sh*t is nonsense. "If we had a draft, then the rich, white people, would not start these wars."

Yeah, no. It doesn't work like that, it's never worked like that.

We'll ignore his numerous financial scandals and such. It's just stupid to keep screaming "A draft Army will stop all the needless wars!" because that's bullsh*t. You idiots doing your goddamn job and not drafting things like the Iraq War Resolution might prevent some wars from occurring.

Go away, Charlie. Please.

None of which has anything to do with women being required to register for the Selective Service.

It does if you are a Fox News Idiot and Poll Unskewer, and your sphincter still aches from the last election, and is further aggravated by the vague but deep-seated dim awareness that 2014 is going to be worse for you and your fellow dinosaurian morons. Yes, indeedy do, it is TOTALLY relevant.

Good idea. Too many people warfighting from their sofas have no clue what the military is about Too many in Congress have never been there. I'd like to hear a lot less "thank you for your service" and a lot more "I'm enlisting."

NewportBarGuy:Even if he was a decorated war veteran, the guy (Rangel) is the very definition of what is wrong with Congress.

His draft sh*t is nonsense. "If we had a draft, then the rich, white people, would not start these wars."

Yeah, no. It doesn't work like that, it's never worked like that.

We'll ignore his numerous financial scandals and such. It's just stupid to keep screaming "A draft Army will stop all the needless wars!" because that's bullsh*t. You idiots doing your goddamn job and not drafting things like the Iraq War Resolution might prevent some wars from occurring.

Yes and no. If we had the draft, and it included women, then more of the country wouldn't be so complacently complicit when the next Congress rubber-stamps the next Dubya's bullshiat war of choice. It could cost a swing state or two--enough to at least give pause.

Oh, and it would mean that more people in the country would understand how meaningless those stupid yellow-ribbon magnets are.

bronyaur1:GAT_00: NewportBarGuy: Even if he was a decorated war veteran, the guy (Rangel) is the very definition of what is wrong with Congress.

His draft sh*t is nonsense. "If we had a draft, then the rich, white people, would not start these wars."

Yeah, no. It doesn't work like that, it's never worked like that.

We'll ignore his numerous financial scandals and such. It's just stupid to keep screaming "A draft Army will stop all the needless wars!" because that's bullsh*t. You idiots doing your goddamn job and not drafting things like the Iraq War Resolution might prevent some wars from occurring.

Go away, Charlie. Please.

None of which has anything to do with women being required to register for the Selective Service.

It does if you are a Fox News Idiot and Poll Unskewer, and your sphincter still aches from the last election, and is further aggravated by the vague but deep-seated dim awareness that 2014 is going to be worse for you and your fellow dinosaurian morons. Yes, indeedy do, it is TOTALLY relevant.

And when did we stop drafting for the wars and start hiring expensive contractors to provide basic services which used to be provided by grunts?oh wait, chenney and the military complex

they definitely expanded it and pushed them into combat roles, but PMCs had been used to train our allies and protect diplomatic missions for a while. Pre-9/11 they were only really used in backwaters in Africa and South America as "military advisers" (same form of military advisers as we had in Vietnam)

doyner:Yes and no. If we had the draft, and it included women, then more of the country wouldn't be so complacently complicit when the next Congress rubber-stamps the next Dubya's bullshiat war of choice. It could cost a swing state or two--enough to at least give pause.

Oh, and it would mean that more people in the country would understand how meaningless those stupid yellow-ribbon magnets are.

You're more optimistic than me. The kicker of those f*cking magnets, for me, was seeing them on several cars in the barracks parking lot. Yes, they put them on their own cars. Brilliant!

I say we do compel women to register if they are now eligible for combat MOS assignment. That's fine. Just seems so outmoded. I went back to the SSS website to check out when I signed up. 1996, 13 days before my 18th birthday. I still volunteered 8 years later. They didn't really need me in the system.

I guess I'm more referring to the scope of war these days. If we ever did get attacked on the scale that would require a draft, I just don't think we'd have the time to conduct one, and train the people to get ready.

I don't think we really want or need a draft Army. We should be looking at cutting the force back even more, not adding to it. We can do a lot more with less these days than any time before. Occupation? Sure, we need more people, more MPs etc etc etc... However, after Vietnam and Iraq and Afghanistan have shown us, maybe for one goddamn second we'll realize that the tactic of grab and hold is not a good one. Just unleash the Army to kill people, break sh*t... give them the keys and a lovely parting check.

We don't have the numbers to do occupation, we're never going to have the numbers, and it's just a bad idea.

MaudlinMutantMollusk:Lsherm: MaudlinMutantMollusk: I thought even the registration had been done away with for a while at some point

Never. If they had been done away with, then attention-whore Rangel wouldn't be able to introduce bills to distract from his numerous ethics charges.

Rangel's integrity issues aside, the registration requirement was suspended between 1975 and 1980, it appears

/Good to know not all the memory cells are fried yet

I was in college when registration was reinstated. Several sorority sisters of mine and I wanted to register to make a statement that we thought women should be registering too. We tried to get a form at the Post Office on campus, but they wouldn't give us one, even when we explained to the Post Master that we were doing it as a form of protest.

S'ok--I generally agree. I guess my overriding feeling on the whole issue is the 2004 election. The vote-for-us-or-we'll--be-attacked-again schtick worked, and most of the electorate didn't have skin in the game. Maybe having you, or your sons' and daughters' asses on the line would compel a little more thought in the voting booth.

On another note, I think there's money to be made on pink-and-yellow magnets now that women can have the combat MOS'. Care to join my business venture?

doyner:NewportBarGuy: Even if he was a decorated war veteran, the guy (Rangel) is the very definition of what is wrong with Congress.

His draft sh*t is nonsense. "If we had a draft, then the rich, white people, would not start these wars."

Yeah, no. It doesn't work like that, it's never worked like that.

We'll ignore his numerous financial scandals and such. It's just stupid to keep screaming "A draft Army will stop all the needless wars!" because that's bullsh*t. You idiots doing your goddamn job and not drafting things like the Iraq War Resolution might prevent some wars from occurring.

Yes and no. If we had the draft, and it included women, then more of the country wouldn't be so complacently complicit when the next Congress rubber-stamps the next Dubya's bullshiat war of choice. It could cost a swing state or two--enough to at least give pause.

Oh, and it would mean that more people in the country would understand how meaningless those stupid yellow-ribbon magnets are.

If we had a war break out that required a draft, the scions of powerful families would all magically come down with crippling polo injuries, or find slots in non-deployable National Guard units, that oddly, were over-strength by 400% and had already turned away PFC Billy Ray Joe Jim Trailerpark or PV2 Tu'Sweet Projects.

Sgt Otter:If we had a war break out that required a draft, the scions of powerful families would all magically come down with crippling polo injuries, or find slots in non-deployable National Guard units, that oddly, were over-strength by 400% and had already turned away PFC Billy Ray Joe Jim Trailerpark or PV2 Tu'Sweet Projects.

True, but we've also been using those same NG units like the regular force. I say keep doing it if we bring back the draft.

And with the internets these days there'd be much more visibility of the rich dodgers.

doyner:True, but we've also been using those same NG units like the regular force. I say keep doing it if we bring back the draft.

The draft will never be back. We've enough volunteers to fill the ranks and technology will make up any slack. We've moved away from large numbers of ground troops and more towards drones and surgical strikes by small mobile forces. Large scale world war using only conventional weapons and massive armies are a thing of the past. As for Rangles idea, they should do away with registration altogether, considering there's bound to be some overhead cost associated with it that, in this climate, should be cut. Either that or make the ladies register as well.

Sgt Otter:If we had a war break out that required a draft, the scions of powerful families would all magically come down with crippling polo injuries, or find slots in non-deployable National Guard units

Lionel Mandrake:Sgt Otter: If we had a war break out that required a draft, the scions of powerful families would all magically come down with crippling polo injuries, or find slots in non-deployable National Guard units

Hey, someone had to protect TexasAlabama from the Viet Cong Air Force!

Seriously, as a woman, this is interesting. I have seen "men's rights" supporters (i.e. against alimony not child support) get eviscerated on Fark in the past. Has this view changed? We don't live in a world where women are incapable. I think if selective service becomes mandatory then many things need to be re-examined.

Ever notice how these black politicians never end up going to jail for clearly defined crimes but white Republicans and especially white Democrats who piss off the white Democrat establishment ( Blago, Trafficant ) go to jail for years for shiat like making their aides do chores on their houseboat? And Duke Cunningham who went to jail for: Cunningham liked to invite women to his yacht. Two of them said that he would change into pajama bottoms and a turtleneck sweater to entertain them with chilled champagne by the light of his favorite lava lamp